Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Faith went out to the waiting room to call the next patient. “Gabriella? You can come on back.”
An eight-year-old with ribbons on her pigtails bounced off the couch, running toward Faith. Gabriella hugged her around the knees.
She had to smother a laugh. If only all her cleanings were so enthusiastic.
“Honey, give Faith some space.” Gabriella’s mom hurried after her daughter. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay. I’m glad to see her too.”
Faith had only been working for Dr. Petrie a few months. The dentist didn’t seem to be a huge fan of kids, so Faith had quickly become the resident child wrangler. She loved it. Kids were by far her favorite patients.
Gabriella had been in several times recently for hyperdontia. She’d needed oral surgery to remove the excess and impacted teeth and had experienced various other complications. Each time she’d come in, Faith had spent extra time reassuring her.
Thankfully, today was just a cleaning. Gabriella’s mom helped her up into the chair.
“I have a little something for you.” Faith dug into her pocket and held out a folded piece of paper. “Have you seen one of these before? It’s a cootie catcher.”
The girl giggled. Faith stuck her fingers into the slots to make it pop into shape. “I’ll show you how it works. It tells your future.” And of course, all the predictions were specially tailored to the little girl, who wanted to be a veterinarian someday.
Gabriella’s mom leaned over. “I used to love those when I was a kid. Did you do the drawings? They’re beautiful.”
Faith nodded. She’d just drawn small decorations on the paper, but the compliment made her smile. After she showed Gabriella the game, she handed the paper toy to the girl.
A loud hammering sound interrupted them. Faith resisted the urge to grimace. “Just the construction over at the hospital. Sorry about that. Now, how about you show me all those pretty teeth?”
She stayed focused on Gabriella and her mother throughout the cleaning. But after they left and Faith’s next patient didn’t show, she had time for her mind to wander.
Which, lately, was not necessarily a good thing.
She finished prepping the room for the next appointment, then went into the break area. Myra, the other hygienist, was eating her lunch and flipping through the latest issue of Cosmo.
Myra turned her magazine around and pointed.
“Look, there’s a whole article about worst dates ever.
You should totally write in, because yours beats every single one of these, hands-down.
Even the one where the guy showed up in assless pants.
” She clapped a hand over mouth. “Dang, I shouldn’t say assless in the office. Petrie might hear.”
Myra had no problem discussing explicit sexual topics, yet she avoided four-letter words. Usually this dichotomy made Faith laugh, but she wasn’t feeling so cheery today.
Faith sank into a chair, groaning. “Why did I tell you about Luke again?”
“Because you love to entertain me?”
“Pretty sure it was because I thought I’d get some sympathy.”
Myra squinted at her. “Have you met me?”
Myra was a few years younger, fresh from getting her certificate, and Dr. Petrie was the first dentist she’d worked for. Faith often heard laughter coming from the other rooms where Myra was working. If Faith was the calming presence in the office, Myra was the jovial one.
“But what about that other guy who was with you that night? The one who bailed you out of there.”
“Tanner?”
“Yeah. What’s the story with him?”
“We’re friends.” Whenever she had a few moments to herself, her mind kept going back to their walk along the beach, the freezing cold swim, and the heat that had built in her stomach when he’d held her.
That same heat was spreading through her veins right now.
But Faith had shared the details with her best friend Sylvie, who’d acted like that night hadn’t been anything unusual. He’s the best, isn’t he? Sylvie had said. As if Tanner might’ve done the same for anyone.
“Uh oh, somebody’s blushing.”
Faith pressed a hand to her cheek. The curse of being a pale blond. “Am not.”
“Have you seen this Tanner guy again? A bodyguard, right? That sounds hot.”
“He’s just a friend. That’s it, end of story.”
Myra shrugged, flipping through her magazine. “Okay, if you say so. I was just hoping for some more dating stories because it’s not like I’ve got any.”
Myra was always complaining about the awfulness of dating apps. That was why Faith had steered clear of them. And after almost hooking up with an eighteen-year-old, she wasn’t exactly eager to line up the next potential guy. She was way too nervous now.
It didn’t help that the only man she seemed to think about lately was Tanner. Because obviously, that wasn’t going anywhere. They’d barely even texted in the last couple weeks, and he hadn’t shown any interest in getting together again.
It wasn’t so bad, though. Tanner was her first crush, unrequited or otherwise, since high school. A milestone in itself. Baby steps were still steps.
The front desk receptionist strolled into the break room. “Faith? There’s someone here to see you.”
She walked to the waiting area and nearly choked.
Jon.
Jon was here.
Her husband. Ex-husband, as soon as those divorce papers were signed and processed.
Jon hadn’t looked well the last time she’d seen him, but he’d lost at least ten pounds since then. Back in high school he’d been a handsome football player. Blond, cleft chin. Cocky smile. But you’d never know it from his gaunt cheeks and sallow skin.
“What are you doing here?” she sputtered. “You’re supposed to be in Texas.”
“We need to talk.”
“You can’t be here. This is… It’s not…” Faith was going to hyperventilate. She wasn’t prepared for this.
“Is everything all right?”
Faith turned around. The dentist stood behind her. Dr. Petrie was in her fifties, with a streak of white in her otherwise dark hair. “Is this a patient?”
“No, I’m her husband, and I need to speak to her.” He’d spoken softly, but there was that familiar edge underneath. Like he was barely holding himself together.
She had to get him out of here.
The dentist pursed her mouth with disdain. “Your husband, who was making all those calls and disrupting my office?”
She’d made the mistake of giving her work number to her mother, and her mom had a soft spot when it came to Jon.
He wants to be a good man, her mom would always say. You just have to give him a chance.
As if she hadn’t given him a thousand chances.
The calls had been embarrassing enough. The receptionist had to block his number. Either he’d somehow traced this address from the phone number, or Faith’s mother had shared that with him, too.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Petrie. I had no idea he’d do this. Could I step outside for a minute?” Faith grabbed Jon’s arm and pulled him out the door.
In the parking lot, she rounded the side of the building. The fenced-in construction site lay beyond, heavy machinery digging into the dirt. Dr. Petrie’s office was located in a medical building next to the hospital, which was constructing a brand-new wing.
The noise had been bugging everyone in the dental office for weeks. But today, the sounds put Faith even more on edge. Her skin tingled with frustration and fury.
“Jon, what are you doing here?”
“I need your help.”
She wanted to scream. “Why didn’t you say you were coming to California?”
“Because I knew you’d tell me not to. I have good reasons for being here. I had to drive two whole days.”
He scratched at his arm. Faith watched the motion, studied the twitch at the corner of his mouth. You couldn’t spend eleven years with someone without getting to know them, inside and out.
“You’re using again. Aren’t you?”
He turned away, face crumpling. “I can’t take you being down on me, too. But I’m a month clean, I swear.”
“You can do what you want, Jon. I realize now that I can’t stop you. But you can’t interfere in my life, either. Our marriage is over. It has been for a long time.”
His eyes were rimmed with red, and dried skin dotted his nose. “I want a new beginning, too. I just need a little bit of help first.”
She looked at the construction site. A huge truck was backing up, beeping a warning. “What do you want, exactly?”
He shuffled his feet. “I’ve got a business opportunity. I need some startup funding.”
“You have got to be kidding me. I’m not giving you money so you can get high.”
“I’m not. I’m selling antiques and things. I’ve got business partners back in Texas, finding stuff cheap. I’m going to sell it here for top dollar to rich people. They love all that rustic crap.”
“What happened to your money?” She’d left his share in the bank account, plus the deed to the house that his parents had helped them buy.
He just shrugged. That answered her question. They both knew where the money had gone.
“I can’t give you money, Jon. We can both predict where it’ll go.”
“So, you still think the worst of me. That feels great.” Jon wiped at his nose. “I’m living out of my truck right now, you know.”
She spotted it across the parking lot—a beat-up Ford F150 with a tarp over the bed. “I’m sorry to hear that. I have to get back to work. You need to go.”
He started toward the truck, then turned back around. “Maybe I could store some things at your place? Just for a little while, till I can figure some stuff out? That would really help.”
“No, Jon. You can’t. I hope this new business works out for you, but you’ll have to do it yourself.”
He stormed off, shaking his head.
For a week, Faith saw no sign of her husband. She started to hope he’d given up and gone back to Texas.
Then the package arrived.